"We have many state employees who care deeply about their work and continually have ideas about how to do it better. We need to make sure we are listening to their ideas so that we can continue to improve how we operate and serve the people of Pennsylvania," Governor Tom Wolf said. "I want to applaud PennDOT for its efforts to engage workers in creating a government that works."

The employees shared their ideas through IdeaLink 20/20, PennDOT's online suggestion system which empowers employees to share ideas.

Developed in-house, this bottom-up approach engages employees at all levels and provides PennDOT leadership with timely input from staff on how the agency can operate more effectively and efficiently, and helps to make PennDOT a better business partner and employer.

The Governor's Office of Transformation, Innovation, Management and Efficiency (GO-TIME) has worked with other state agencies to implement their own online suggestion systems built on a common technology platform. To date, these systems have captured over 850 employee ideas, of which 167 have been implemented. These ideas are in addition to those gathered by PennDOT through IdeaLink 20/20 and by other state agencies through custom solutions.

The employees receiving awards represent organizations across the state and were among the nearly 200 ideas submitted by employees in 2017:

The department's interactive Posted & Bonded Roads map now has additional haulers listed based on an idea from Jill Byrne in PennDOT's Clearfield-based region.

An idea from Justin Cambric in PennDOT's central office resulted in the creation of a "Transportation Programs and Projects Guidebook," which will allow users to quickly access regulations, guidance, and transportation-funding program information when completed later this year.

Based on an idea from James Griffin in central office, county maintenance organizations were notified of the option to enhance employee safety by purchasing disposal kits for hazardous materials such as discarded needles found along state roadways.

Posters providing resources for people who are or who know victims of domestic violence, child abuse, or human trafficking were added in all bathrooms in all 71 driver's license centers due to Harrisburg driver license employee Elizabeth Marie Hack's idea.

An idea from Nancy Lee Hart in the department's motor vehicle bureau resulted in car seat safety information being displayed on digital signage in all driver license centers.

Based on Interstate 95 Welcome Center employee Anne Horosky's idea, each of PennDOT's 14 Welcome Centers will begin hosting safety days in 2018 to educate the public on topics such as work zones, car seats, motorcycles, and more.

An idea from Robert Lamendola in Monroe County resulted in a "Segment Offset Locator" website which uses the on-board GPS of mobile devices to calculate and display county, route, segment, and offset for PennDOT roadway programming purposes.

A salutation on a PennDOT form was changed to be gender neutral and the department will make similar updates moving forward as needed based on an idea from Jason Kowalczk in the department's Uniontown-based region.

On November 3, 2016, PennDOT held a dedication ceremony at the department memorial on Front Street in Harrisburg due to an idea from Glenn Rowe in central office.

Improvements were made to the department's online ePermitting system based on suggestions from Michael Slope in PennDOT's Uniontown-based region.

Additional guidance and documentation via department "strike-off letters" will be added to the department's Electronic Construction Management System based on an idea from Shaun Werner in the department's Bridgeville-based region.